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Florida wins E.A. "Bud" Gingher Trophy as Eastern Conference champions

Florida wins E.A. "Bud" Gingher Trophy as Eastern Conference champions

Saturday, May 19th

The Florida Everblades claimed the E.A. "Bud" Gingher Trophy as Eastern Conference champions on Saturday with a 3-2 win over the Adirondack Thunder in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Florida wins the series 4 games to 1, and awaits the winner of the Western Conference Finals between the Colorado Eagles and Fort Wayne Komets in the 2018 Kelly Cup Finals.

The Everblades raced out to a 3-0 first-period lead in Game 5 on goals from Matt Mackenzie, Michael Kirkpatrick and Mitchell Heard. Mike Szmatula got the Thunder on the board 2:39 into the final period and Colton White added a power-play tally at 12:03 to cut Florida's lead to one but that was as close as Adirondack got.

Kirkpatrick led Florida in the series with eight points (3g-5a) while Martin Ouellette went 4-1 with a 2.46 goals-against average and a save percentage of .922. Adirondack was led by Ryan Schmelzer who had four goals and eight points.

This marks the fourth time the Everblades have advanced to the Kelly Cup Finals in team history. Florida fell to Idaho in 2004 and Trenton in 2005 before defeating Las Vegas 4 games to 1 in 2012.

The trophy is named in recognition of E.A. “Bud” Gingher, who was Chairman of the ECHL Board of Governors from 1992-95. Gingher, who passed away in 2002, co-founded the Dayton Bombers in 1991 and owned the team for seven seasons, serving as President and Governor until selling the team in 1998. Gingher was inducted into the ECHL Hall of Fame in 2009.

Gingher Trophy Champions

2018 Florida Everblades

2017 South Carolina Stingrays

2016 Wheeling Nailers

2015 South Carolina Stingrays

2014 Cincinnati Cyclones

2013 Reading Royals

2012 Florida Everblades

2011 Kalamazoo Wings

2010 Cincinnati Cyclones

2009 South Carolina Stingrays

2008 Cincinnati Cyclones